DROD: The Second Sky

Clearly a work of love, I got into DROD through HOTU reviews in the early 2000's. I bought Second Sky originally when it came out through Caravel's own sales channel (non-Steam). I abandoned it half way in 2014 after a certain level proved too difficult (cough, Eye Of The Storm, cough). Now I picked it up again and am powering through, second time being the charm I hope.

This is one of the best puzzle games I've ever played. It's a crime that more people haven't heard of this series, and this is the best one. Unfortunately, if you're new to the series this is probably the worst place to start, as it assumes that you're a veteran who has already played and finished DROD: The City Beneath (which in turn expects that you have already played DROD: Journey to Rooted Hold). It doesn't bother to explain the majority of the returning mechanics and elements, and the difficulty starts out fairly high and continues to escalate. If you haven't played a DROD game before then I would recommend starting with DROD: Gunthro and the Epic Blunder, which was intentionally designed to be a gentler introduction for series newcomers. If you have played the earlier DROD games then you probably already know whether you're going to like this, but I'll just say that I was pleasantly surprised even having enjoyed the previous games (particularly The City Beneath). This really feels like DROD's magnum opus and it's an extremely worthy finale for the series.

The Second Sky is, without a doubt in my mind, the height of the DROD series. That comes with the caveat that it might be a struggle to get into if you aren't already familiar with earlier games in the series, like Gunthro and the Epic Blunder, as it ramps up rather quickly, but it does so much right that I can't help but place it amongst my favorite games. To those new to it, DROD is a turn based 2D puzzle game where you play a guy with a Really Big Sword, which takes up space in front of him, and each step you can choose to move or turn your sword. It's separated from its contemporaries in puzzle games by having a heavy focus on combat with enemies that also move when you do, each of which have their own quirks and behaviors. Chronologically, The Second Sky, is the last part of Beethro's story in the DROD series, which started from King Dugan's Dungeon, and was followed up by Journey to Rooted Hold and The City Beneath. If you're new, it does include a short recap at the beginning of the game, but there still may be a lot to catch up on here if you're invested in the lore of the series. Relative to previous games, Second Sky has less focus on trying to carve your way through hordes of enemies, opting instead to lean more towards smaller, focused, and less combat intensive puzzles. And, that, it does this extremely well, with every room having had considerable amount of thought and design placed in it, always interesting and always offering something new to you. ... But also occasionally devilishly hard, too. If some of the puzzles are too difficult, and it's very likely you'll struggle pretty hard with quite a few, there's an extensive hint board on their forums for virtually every room in the game. Just about any potential question you could have, without outright spoiling the answer for you, is answered there. Don't be afraid of being stuck, we're in this together!

This is, without a doubt, the best DROD yet. However, it assumes familiarity with puzzle elements from the previous games, so it's probably not a good place to start. There's also story spoilers for the previous games, if you care. Gunthro and the Epic Blunder is also available on Steam, and is probably a better place to start.

More Update please...

If you have played any DROD before, you are going to love this one the most.

The best puzzle game ever created.

Felt like they were relying more on story than on puzzles here however the addition of chain chomps in a top down puzzle game is cool as hell. Also for the first time there was a world map! Neat stuff